'Dogs of the Dow' Investing Strategy No Longer Works

The "Dogs of the Dow" stock-picking strategy is beating the market in 2013, but that's no reason to adopt the approach next year.

This year's results are likely just luck. Broader evidence suggests the dividend-based strategy no longer works. If it doesn't, there's good reason: Companies have changed how they return cash to stockholders. Even if the strategy does retain a trickle of predictive power, a look at the stocks...